“Fall seven times; stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” – James Joyce

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else” – Judy Garland

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven” – John Milton

“Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.” – Albert Einstein

“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.” – James Oppenheim

“Yes, and you would not grow to be the man you are about to become.” — Tony Robbins

1. How little money was spent to target a “medals race” and yet how much success the team is having … particularly in events not usually dominated by American athletes.

2. How Bode Miller is crediting the ski team’s successful run with a more aggressive and exciting attitude toward their sport.  He says … “the inspiration level is climbing. They see teammates on the podium and they want that, too. It’s not necessarily the result, but they want to be smiling, they want to ski inspired. You’re seeing a result you haven’t seen from the U.S. in a long time, or ever.”

3. The USOC (United States Olympic Committee) didn’t “over promise and under deliver”.  The ATHLETES are delivering in a way that is exciting and fun for us to participate with.  Thank goodness the USOC kept their mouths shut and let the athletes do the “talking”.

All of this inspires in a way that I think we all need right now.

It’s not ALL about the money … even though it’s an important part.

It’s MORE about passion and risk taking.

Shut up and DO the work.

Good things CAN happen.

And OFTEN do when approached the right way.

You would have to read well over 5,000 of those items every day for 70 years to consume it all.  Insane.  Reading one book every week (close to my current average) for 50 years (close to what’s left of my current life expectancy) would only get me through about 2,600 of those books.

It really begs the question of prioritizing activity and media choices.  Is it worth trying to get through EVERYTHING I possibly can.  I believe it makes more sense to really dig deep in a few areas that are of the most value.  Happiness and fulfillment topping that list.

If you haven’t read it … you really should.  It actually has application across life, not just in business.

I have to admit that the last few months have been difficult ones, I have felt the shock of the economy in my business and I’m still not exactly sure the way out.  So how grateful was I for Tim Ferriss’s latest post where he linked to the video below.  He calls it the Prescription for Self-Doubt … I would add “Self Pity” as well.

My business is having A LOT of trouble right now.  We tend to see our fortune on any given day fall and rise with the sentiment on Wall Street.  I had no idea the two would be so closely tied … but seemingly they are.

Anyway, I found the video below and had one thought after watching THE ENTIRE THING (you have to watch it all, no matter how badly you want to stop) … GATHER STRENGTH AND FIGHT!